US 8,134,724 B2Granted

Policy based system and method for optimizing output device submission, use and wait times

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorsJeffrey Owen Kephart, Jonathan Lenchner, Frederick Cole Mintzer, Michael Wilbur Munger, Jennifer Q. Trelewicz

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Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for optimizing submission of output jobs to a network of output devices, using an output job manager to assign jobs to devices. The assignments are done automatically, based on policies associated with users, output devices, organizations responsible for the output devices, and the system as a whole. User output preferences are expressed as one or more user policies. System and organizational constraints associated with users and output devices and the managing of groups of output devices are also expressed as policies. An optimizing scheduler calculates tradeoffs between user preferences, and factors in constraints to optimize submission of jobs to output devices, and to optimize use and wait times on the output devices.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A computer implemented system for controlling output mechanisms in an enterprise printing network, comprising:

means for a user to specify parameters identifying an output job to be executed by said output mechanisms, said job parameters being stated in a job description stored on the network;
a network of output mechanisms for executing said output job, each said output mechanism having a state description and an output policy constraining use of the output mechanism, and each said output mechanism being owned by an organization and located at a site;
means for a user to describe preferences for execution of said output job and tradeoffs among said preferences, said preferences and tradeoffs being stated in a selected one of one or more user policies, said tradeoffs being expressed as priorities, rules, or utility functions comprehensible to an optimizing scheduler;
means for describing constraints applied by said organization to output mechanisms owned by said organization;
an output job manager for assigning said output job to one or more of said output mechanisms in accordance with said selected user policy, said assignment taking account of other output jobs in process, each of said state descriptions, each of said output policies, and each said constraint applied to an output mechanism by an organization;
an optimizing scheduler usable by said output job manager to optimize said assignment by making one or more of said tradeoffs among said user preferences by applying said respective priorities, rules and utility functions;
and
means for returning notification of completion of an executed output job to said user, wherein
a location of an output mechanism enables computation of a delivery time for the user at a user location to obtain the job output from the output mechanism,
said preferences include at least one time interval between user submission of the output job and receipt by the user of the job output from the assigned output mechanism, and
said tradeoffs include a tradeoff between said at least one time interval preference and another user preference.

8 more elements

A computer implemented method for controlling output mechanisms in an enterprise printing network, comprising:

specifying by a user parameters identifying an output job to be executed by said output mechanisms, said job parameters being stated in a job description stored on the network;
storing on the network a description of user preferences for execution of said output job and tradeoffs among said preferences, said preferences and tradeoffs being stated in a selected one of one or more user policies, said tradeoffs being expressed as priorities, rules, or utility functions comprehensible to an optimizing scheduler;
storing on the network a description of constraints applied to each of a plurality of output mechanisms available on the network for execution of said output job, each said output mechanism having a state description and an output policy constraining use of the output mechanism and being owned by an organization and being available via a directory of output mechanisms;
assigning by an output server said output job to one or more of said output mechanisms in accordance with said selected user policy, said assignment taking account of other output jobs in process, each of said state descriptions, each of said output policies, and each said constraint applied to an output mechanism;
optimizing by said optimizing scheduler said assignment by making one or more of said tradeoffs among said user preferences by applying said respective priorities, rules and utility functions;
and
returning notification of completion of an executed output job to said user, wherein
a location of an output mechanism enables computation of a delivery time for the user at a user location to obtain the job output from the output mechanism,
said preferences include at least one time interval between user submission of the output job and receipt by the user of the job output from the assigned output mechanism, and
said tradeoffs include a tradeoff between said at least one time interval preference and another user preference.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/685,732Filed 13 Mar 2007
Published: US 2008/0225326 A118 Sep 2008
Granted: 13 Mar 2012
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G06F 3/1239
Print job management: restricting the usage of resources, e.g. usage or user levels, credit limit, consumables, special fonts
G06F 3/1222
Specifically adapted to achieve a particular effect: increasing security of the print job
G06F 3/1255
Configuration of print job parameters, e.g. using UI at the client: settings incompatibility, e.g. constraints, user requirements vs. device…
G06F 3/1288
Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server: in client-server-printer device configuration